Making Public Services More Human: Rae Baker on Trust, Partnership & Co-Production

In this episode of The Spark Changemakers Podcast, Nikki talks to Rae Baker, founder of Think Team, about how we move beyond collaboration in theory and start putting it into practice.

Rae is an experienced coach, facilitator and consultant with more than a decade of experience in engagement, partnership working and collaboration across the public sector.

Having worked within local government, health and other public bodies in Wales, Rae founded Think Team to help organisations do the work they're already doing in more collaborative, integrated and human ways.

Together, Nikki and Rae explore why genuine partnership working is often much harder than it sounds. They explore why investing time in relationships at the beginning can create stronger partnerships in the long term, and why simply putting people in the same room and calling it partnership working isn't enough.

In this conversation, you'll hear about:

🤝 Why being around the same table doesn't automatically mean we're working in partnership

🧱 Why trust and relationships are the foundations of meaningful collaboration

💬 How to move beyond engagement as a series of standalone conversations towards ongoing relationships

👥 Why one person can never be expected to represent the views of an entire community

🌱 Moving from doing things to people, towards doing with and alongside them

🧠 Why public bodies need to recognise that they don't hold all the knowledge

🏛️ How Wales is creating the legislative conditions for more collaborative approaches to public service

🔄 Why collaboration requires a wider culture shift, not simply another engagement process

Connect with Rae

Visit the ThinkTeam Website: www.thinkteam.co.uk

Connect with Rae on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rae-baker/

Follow ThinkTeam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thinkteamltd/

About The Spark Changemakers Podcast

The Spark Changemakers Podcast is for people who want to change the world, fuelled by passion and purpose. Through conversations with changemakers, thinkers and practitioners, we explore what it really takes to create meaningful change – in ourselves, our communities and the systems around us.